Tupelo drops second-round game to Brandon
Jul. 21—FULTON — The Brandon Black Sox took the lead early on Friday afternoon and never looked back.
Brandon beat the Tupelo 49ers 13-2 in the second round of the Senior American Legion state tournament at Itawamba Community College.
A fielding error allowed the Black Sox's first batter of the game to reach first base. Over the course of the next half inning, Trey Davidson, Austin Allen and Gavin Bledsoe each had RBI singles to make it 3-0.
The at-bats established a theme for Brandon's batters in the contest: taking what the pitcher gave them.
"They come spotting the fastball up on the outside and we just did well sitting back and just being able to go the other way with it," Brandon coach Brian Thomas said. "Our guys just made the adjustments in the box to whatever they was going to give us right there."
In the top of the third, Luke Robinson helped Brandon add on with a single. Tucker Jones and Davidson each hit two-run singles of their own to make it 8-0. Tupelo allowed five walks in the inning.
"We struggled throwing strikes there early and never really recovered," Tupelo coach Russell Bunch said. "They played well. Hat's off to them. They're a good ball club."
Davidson and Allen led the Black Sox with three RBIs each. Allen also got the win as the team's starting pitcher. Allen was most impressed by his team's efficiency on both sides.
"We played great defense, had no mental errors and it just felt like we swung the bat really well like we always do," he said.
Tupelo was able to get a run back in the bottom of the third on a throwing error and another in the bottom of the fourth on a wild pitch. However, Brandon scored five runs in the top of the fifth and the Niners were unable to respond, invoking the mercy rule and ending the game.
The Niners were scheduled to play Oxford in a loser's bracket game on Saturday at noon.
Extra Bases
Big Inning: Bryson Jones, Cruse Lloyd, Allen and Bledsoe each drove in runs in the top of the fifth.
Big Stat: Allen pitched all five innings for Brandon, allowing two runs on three hits while walking five and striking out three.
Coach Speak: "Allen's been one of our players that's really stepped up over the past month. It's just taking his game to the next level." — Thomas
